What Do You Mean Scent Marking?
by mistressofmythology
Summary: Stiles doesn't notice it at first. Why would he, when he was busy trying to take down a psychotic geriatric with a God complex? Five times someone points out that Stiles seems heavily of Derek and Stiles can't figure out why the alpha is scent marking him and the one time he got a clue and got the guy.
1. Chapter 1

1\. It was about two weeks after the whole running Jackson's lizard ass over with his jeep thing and while you would think-and hope-that things would have calmed down a little in town, of course they hadn't.

Oh no. That would be too easy.

See finals were coming up and instead of being at home cramming whatever he could about biology into his brain, he was at Deaton's, looking through the bestiary for away to ward off the fae that were trying to take over Beacon Hills territory.

Yeah, you heard him. Faires.

Derek had done something to piss them off when they were simply passing through.

Stiles would bet his jeep that the sourwolf had pounced first and then asked questions later.

He could practically hear the wolf saying "This is my territory. I am the Alpha! Leave now or I'll rip your throat out."

Or something along those lines because let's face it, the guy had zero social skills.

If only the guy would learn to smile maybe they wouldn't have cursed him so that he was in his beta form all the time as a declaration of war.

Oh, don't worry about that. Stiles had gotten a nice little wake up call at four in the morning and had been forced to research unitl they found a spell to fix it. They had, and Derek was back to his normal 'human' scowly faced self, barking orders at Stiles to find away to get rid of the fairies.

And that's what he had been doing for the last three days, hauled up in Deaton's clinic-and don't think that didn't raise some eyebrows, mainly from his father-who he had to lie to yet again.

Needless to say Stiles was very tired.

So with very little sleep and the impending academic failure on horizon Stiles came up with a truly brilliant plan.

"Okay so how bad could fae rule be? Because right now the words are blending together on this page and sacrificing Derek to them is looking better and better." Stiles asked looking over at Scott.

"Dude, what is with you and always wanting to sacrificing people?" Scott asked looking up from his phone. Which was not what he was supposed to be doing. He was supposed to be doing research to instead of making puppy eyes at his screen.

Frowning, Stiles reached over and grabbed the phone out of Scott's had, in a truly impressive move against a werewolf.

"Dude, come on!" Scott complained grabbing it back.

"First off Scott, you are supposed to be helping," Stiles waved his hand toward the pile of books on the table, "Second, I do not...always..want to sacrifice people. Just assholes. Like Jackson and Derek. And really Scott, do they even count as people, there should be like a limit for how much assholory one person can demonstrate before their person card is revoked!" he exclaimed.

"Stiles, if that were a rule your card would be revoked," Scott told him, very unsympathetic to the squawk of protest Stiles gave, then continued," and besides I thought you and Derek were getting along."

Stiles flails a little at that.

"Uh rude, and yeah sure, me and sourwolf have been getting along great if you consider him getting in my face about every little thing, pushing me up against walls, and threatening me getting along!" He gestured at his body as if to prove a point.

Because what he and Derek did could not be counted as getting along. The Greeks and Trojans got on better than them and we all know how that ended.

Scott frowned at him, his head slightly cocked-and don't think Stiles didn't want to make a dog joke, but he and Scott were buds and he wouldn't do that...after last time.

Stiles was jolted from the horrifying memory by Scott leaning in and sniff at his neck.

Jerking in surprised, his flailing set his stool off balance, and sent him crashing to the floor with what was a very manly screech.

"What the hell Scott?! We've talked about this! We do not sniff the human. The human is not to be sniffed!" Stiles exclaimed standing up and glaring at his amused best friend.

Scott raised an eyebrow at him before shrugging.

"Dude I don't need to sniff you to smell Derek all over you."

"What?" Stiles gaped.

Rolling his eyes Scott explained.

"Ever since that night at the pool you've slowly started to smell more and more of Derek. I figured it's because you guys have been getting along better and started hanging out." He shrugged.

"Scott, I haven't been spending anymore time with him than you have."

The werewolf looked skeptical.

"Are you sure? Because you smell like you've been swimming in his scent, if you know what I mean."

"No, Scott, no I don't 'know what you mean.'" Stiles said exasperated.

Scott looked at him like he was an idiot and man did it feel weird to be on the opposite end of that stare.

"Scent marking, Stiles. I meant he's scent marking you."

Stiles stared at him blankly.

"...No."

"Dude, I might not have researched everything werewolf like you did but I know scent marking when I smell it. I used to do it to Allison."

"Why would Derek-who hates me by the way-be scent marking me?"

"I don't know, you're part of the pack now, maybe that has something to do with it."

"Does he scent mark you?" Stiles asked.

Scott didn't pause before he shook his head.

"Maybe it's a human in the pack thing." He suggests.

"Well does Lydia smell like him then?"

The werewolf thought for a minute before shaking his head again.

"No she only ever smells like Jackson."

"Then it's not a human thing."

"I don't know what to tell you, man"

"How about why an alpha is scent marking me, Scott!"

"I don't know! The only people I've smelt that have been scent marked are-" Scott cut off, eyes wide, before a disturbed but amused look settled on his face.

"You know what man, I think it's probably totally unintentional, just his wolf reacting to a pack mate not smelling like pack." Scott said, smirking.

The human wasn't so convinced.

"Then why only me, you can't smell like pack. You've only been in the pack for a couple of weeks."

The werewolf grinned at his best friend.

"You're you, man. You're special." With that Scott got up and left mentioning something about Allison.

"Scott!? What do you mean by that?! Scott!"


	2. Chapter 2: Only Stiles

One thing that could not be said about Stiles is that he stood by and watched as everyone else did the hard work.

Nope. Because while he may be a scrawny human, he was still the scrawny human who had saved werewolf ass on multiple occasions.

Which is why he never understood why Derek tried to force him to stay home when the other went out in search of whatever monster they encountered.

But it didn't really matter why to Stiles. What mattered was that it was fucking annoying.

Just because he didn't have the claws and fangs and the whole werewolf factor going on does not mean that he was going to stand by like a fainting maiden of old times.

'Dear friends, how I love you and only wish to help. But Alas! It can not be, I am but a lowly human in need of recusing and protection'

Yeah, Stiles couldn't picture himself like that either.

Especially when it was usually the werewolves needing saving anyway. (Come on, one line of wolfs-bane and no human in sight and then bam! You're as good as dead.)

Said werewolves are why Stiles was in the situation he was in.

You know that whole fae thing that's was going on?

Yeah, well apparently werewolves don't know how to leave stuff alone.

Common sense would tell you that until you find away to get rid of fairies -which Stiles would like to point out have magic- that you would steer clear of them.

So what does Alpha McBrood do?

Hunts them down.

Apparently becoming a werewolf makes you lose you're common sense. Like how rain suddenly makes everyone bad drivers.

Stiles thanks the Gods everyday that he didn't take the bite from Peter.

So Derek has his pups hunt down the fairies.

And doesn't tell Stiles. Because humans are fragile or whatever.

So how does Stiles know about what they did, you ask?

Because Scott, Scott with his wonderful puppy dog eyes and charming smile, pocket dialed him.

The human hadn't even known that could happen with a smart phone on lock but apparently anything's possible with enough werewolf logic.

So Stiles gets a call a little after five in the afternoon, on the other side of the line he hears Scott growling at Derek, complaining about what a bad idea it was, though he went along with said bad idea in the first place.

Idiot.

Hearing enough Stiles piles himself in his car and drives over to the loft to wait for the amazing wolf pack to get back so he can chew them out for being complete idiots.

But see the thing about fairies is that they are vicious. Nothing like Tinkerbell.

No.

If you have wronged them they will not stop at anything to get back at you. Which, by the way, is the first thing any book said about them. Which is what Stiles told Derek, but oh no the big bad alpha knows best and just had to go after them.

And so that's how Stiles found himself kidnapped right out of his car going the down the road.

Seriously, one minutes he's focused on the road thinking about how he's going to phrase the fantastic rant he has going in his head, and the next he's waking up with a splitting headache and the beginning of rope burn.

The ground under him is wet and the world around him is blurry for a few second before blinks and everything comes into focus.

This only makes the pain in his head hurt worse.

"Ow, there are other ways to kidnap people that don't involve hitting them over the head." He whined under his breath.

"Silence human,"Came a voice from his right, causing him to jerk up right, or at least try to, but it was a little hard with your hands tied behind you.

"Woah dude no need to bring the human card into play. Do not press that red button." His mouth was saying before his brain could think better of it. (But really thinking about it he probably would have said that anyway because really? Silence human? That's what the guy was going with?

When Stiles was finally able to wiggle himself into a somewhat better position to see he realized the man had take him to the outskirts of the preserve.

And when Stiles is finally say man he means man. Like the guy is taller than he is, but he's also obviously a fairy because last time he check grown men especially ones who kidnap do not have transparent and glittering wings poking out of their backs.

He was also obviously the fairy king, if the crown thingy he was wearing was anything to go on.

"Dude why are you so tall? Aren't fairies supposed to be like the size of a thumb?" Stiles blurted.

"Silence!" The fairy king shouted, leaning in towards Stiles face.

"Your alpha made the same mistake. You'd think for a werewolf he would know more about other supernatural cultures. Instead he laughed in my face. The highest level of disrespect. A strike against not only my honor but his own! And then he had the nerve to try to hunt my people down when we tried to claim the land he forfeited when he made that error. So I-"

"So he just insulted your size?" Stiles interrupted before the king could get to the revenge part of his monologue, because honestly once you've heard one you've heard them all.

"Are you sure your talking about the right guy? Because I was certain that he did the whole 'Rawr I'm the alpha, Fear me, for I actually have no clue what I'm doing' speech."

This gave the king pause.

"Is this alpha not a born wolf?" He asked, borrows furrowed.

"No the guy's definitely a born wolf, however he is kind of a fail wolf when it comes to everything supernatural. I mean the guy bit four teenager for Christ sake. Not exactly the smartest move." Stiles snorted, heart pounding as the other man's stance relaxed slightly.

"I was under the impression that the territory was ruled by a strong alpha who knew much of the different cultures. Alpha Hale."

"How long ago did you hear that?" Stiles had to ask, because that sounded nothing like Derek.

Sure he was a horrible alpha, but he was just going own instinct.

"Many years ago. I was told that this was a place to seek refuge if needed. That the alpha ruled strict but fair."

Seeing an opportunity to turn this in their favor Stiles gave an honest reply.

"You're thinking of Talia Hale, the new alpha's mother. She died nearly ten years ago with most of her family in a fire, set by a hunter. The only members left are Derek- this alpha- and his uncle. Derek only became alpha a couple of months ago and because his sister was supposed to be the alpha he never got any of the training to go with it. I think the only time the family interacted with other uh cultures was when one entered their territory. Fae must have never come through or Derek would have known how to act." Stiles told him hoping that it might sway his view.

He felt a little bad about throwing out Derek's past like that but he didn't think the alpha would mind too much if it got Stiles out of maybe being killed.

It looked like it was working too, but the fairy looked suspicious.

"If his family died ages ago then why is he just now becoming alpha. And why has his uncle not given him guidance on how to interact with other cultures?" The king asked, thinking he had caught the human in a lie.

But Stiles wasn't having any of it and snorted.

"As if anyone could get Peter to do anything to help. You know the guy has been killed already and just came back from the dead? No, Derek, his sister and Peter are the only ones who survived the fire. Well Laura becomes alpha and she and Derek head off to New York leaving crazy uncle Pedo to go even crazier. Then suddenly the killings start-"

Stiles spends all afternoon explaining to the king, whose name he learns is Lysander -and don't think Stiles didn't have to fight himself not to ask if he meant puck because it's important not to piss off the fairy king who he might be convincing to let go of the grudge against Derek.

By the time Stiles had finished telling the king how bad Derek had had it and wasn't it just awful how uncultured he was and by association the whole pack-what?! It's for the good of the pack, they could deal with the fae community thinking they were ignorant if it got them out of a war like Stiles was hoping.

"Oh that poor uncultured fool." The fae said despair evident in his voice.

"So you see how we could make a horrible mistake, in fact I had no clue fae existed until Derek showed up stuck in beta form." Stiles said playing it up.

"Of course, such tragedy and to even be betrayed by family. Truly awful," the king shook his head, face grim. "That would have never happened if they were fae. We are very protective of our family. Vicious even."

"As you should be. As everyone should be." Stiles said waving his now free hands in the air for emphasizes.

The king smiled at the gesture.

"I like you, human Stiles. Even without you being cultured, I find myself fond of you. You have so much potential." The king waved a hand.

"And after our talk, I have determined you to be genuine, if not a little exaggerated," he gave Stiles a smug look here-nothing getting passed a fairy king then-and continued. "I find your care for your pack to be near that of a fae and that is a hard feat to accomplish. Because of all this I have decided to spare your and your packs lives." Lysander declared.

Seeing Stiles eyes widen in glee he carried on.

"However nothing comes without its price, young Stiles."

The human held his breath and hoped to god that he wouldn't have to marry anyone because that's usually how things like this played out and he's to young to be a husband, he had so much he wanted to do, confess to Derek who he may or may not be in love with, maybe have crazy money sex with said person(a guy can dream) and he really really wanted curly fries again and he's like 80% sure fairies don't have curly fries and he would by extension not have curly fries. And oh think of his dad, oh god what would his dad say? Stiles was too busy working himself into a panic to notice that King Lysander was wearing an amused smile, knowing exactly what the human was thinking.

Such an amusing human he had come across, the fae was glad he had decided to spare him. Great fun he would have teasing his new friend.

"As I was saying , there will be a price." The king paused for dramatic effect before exhaling disappointed.

"You must educate those uncultured swing about the fae people. Not all will be as kind and forgiving as I." The king snapped his fingers and a large tome landed in the shocked and relieved humans lap.

"This is a book on out history, do take care of it, it is a gift. It's been enchanted so the reader can read it in their native tongue. In a year's time I and my people will be back to migrate north and you will be tested. I trust you will take this seriously."

The human nodded quickly mumbling out a yes, not believing his luck. No one would believe his luck.

The king grinned.

"It was nice to meet you Stiles I am glad I met you, I'll see you in a year."

With that the king snapped his fingers again and Stiles found himself back in his car with the heavy tome in the seat next to him.

His car was parked exactly where he last remembered before the kidnapping and he let out a nervous laugh which soon became hysterical laughter.

As the adrenaline from the past few hours left his body he allowed himself a small melt down. Because as nice as the fairy king was to let him go and even count him as a friend Stiles was seconds away from death and that wears on the nerves.

After having a reasonably long panic attack-read ten minutes of uncontrollable ugly crying and a call to his dad that probably confused the man- Stiles finally calmed down and started the car.

Thank God for deserted roads.

Knowing that the pack must be worried he headed toward the loft.

When he got their he saw that not only was the pack's cars parked out front so was the Argent's which surprised him.

Cautiously he climbed the stairs, lugging the book with him and pulled open the ridiculous door to Derek's loft.

He hadn't stepped one foot into the room before he found himself man handled around and his back up against the wall. Derek's furious/concerned- is there really a difference?- face came into view as the man knocked the book out of Stiles' hands.

"Dude!" the human protested, "I just got the king of the fairies to declare peace, it's not a good idea to go around throwing a peace offering on the floor." Stiles whined waving a hand at the book.

He wouldn't put it passed the king to put a sensor of whatever on it and Stiles would never forgive Derek if he just undid all his hard work.

The alpha growled back before leaning down and running his nose across Stiles neck. Which under different circumstances would be a total turn on but as Stiles looked over Derek's shoulder and saw the pack, plus the Argents in front of a map of the forest and then realized that nope he and Derek weren't actually together, he realized that he should say something.

"Woah, buddy I know I smell nice but Stiles is not a chew toy, bad Fido!" He cried bopping Derek lightly on the head because apparently he hadn't had enough near death experiences for today.

The werewolf growled at the dog joke but let it go before pulling back.

"You smell like magic." He said before he suddenly started groping Stiles' pulse points.

A throat clear behind Derek and Stiles turned his head to see the pack looking at him expectant.

Lydia was the one to speak up.

"Stiles," She said, tone expectant, "Where the hell have you been? We just spent hours looking for you, and you just come in here and start in on the dog jokes?." She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Uh, I think we should sit down for this," Stiles slipped around Derek before picking up the tome and heading for the couch.

Derek was a step behind him the whole time and practically sat on top of him when they sat down.

With a deep breath Stiles explained how he had some how gotten the fae king to offer peace.

At the part where he told the king about Derek's family he looked at the wolf.

He looked sad but he didn't look up from where he was focusing on scent marking Stiles' shoulder and he didn't look open to apologies.

By the end of the talk the pack sat with various looks of disbielf and there wasn't a visible piece of skin that Derek hadn't touched-if it wasn't for his talk with Scott he would be concerned about the guy but having a pack member spend hours with someone you had declared war with was stressful and scent marking must get rid of the smell, Stiles decided.

For a long time the pack said nothing.

Finally Jackson broke the silence with huffed out chuckle.

The pack turned to him in shock.

Raising an eyebrow, apologetically he explained.

"Come on, only Stilinski could talk himself out of not only his own death but war."


	3. Chapter 3: They didn't do the do

"You're late." The alarm clock deadpanned.

Stiles rolled away from the sound and pulled his blanket up above his head.

Awareness would not get him today.

He had just gotten settled when his covers were torn away and another piece of fabric hit his face.

Flinching back he pulled what he now recognized as a shirt away from his face and glare over a the werewolf in his room.

Derek stood there, glaring back, unimpressed.

Normally Stiles would be a confusing mix of aroused and terrified, because while that face usually meant Stiles' back was about to meet the nearest wall-and not in the fun way- it was also when Stiles' back was about to hit the nearest wall with Derek holding him there.

Normally he would be popping an awkward boner.

But Stiles is not a morning person. 90% of the time he is talking none stop at anyone and anything. 90% he is a ball of energy moving from one thing to another. 90% Stiles Stilinski is a ray of fucking sunshine, thank you very much.

Mornings however is when Stiles let's out his inner grump. On normal mornings he hits the snooze button five times, rolls out of bed with twenty minutes until he needs to leave, drags himself into the shower where he blast himself with cold water until he's sure he won't go to sleep standing up, gets out , throws on whatever smells least offensive, before stumbling out the door with a large cup of coffee running through his veins.

So being woken up by less than those conditions killed any fear induced boners that might have occurred and he continued to glare back at Derek's unfairly handsome face.

"You're late." Derek repeated, unphased, nodding at the clock on Stiles table.

After glaring a little more Stiles glance over before promptly flailing and falling off his bed.

Scrambling up he quickly tugged off his dirty shirt, replacing it with the one Derek had slung in his face.

He looked around for a pair of jeans before catching another look at the clock.

Deciding that the jeans he was wearing would have to do he grabbed his bag running out the door, yelling over his shoulder that it was Derek's fault he was late.

He had been in too much of a hurry to notice the half pleased half smug look on Derek's face when Stiles had put on the shirt he had given him.

"You stink." An annoying voice said as a hand slammed closed the locker door Stiles had been working on getting open for the last ten minutes.

He had missed his whole first period and was not in the mood to deal with this today.

Huffing Stiles turned to glare at Jackson's smug face.

"Oh I'm sorry your royal douchness, some of us woke up an hour late today because Derek decided that he wanted us to look up everything on witches last night, and weren't able to get a shower this morning. So unless you want to take over being the packs research monkey how about you take your scaly ass somewhere else."

Jackson ignored the scale comment, his smug grin not moving an inch.

"No need to lie Stilinski, now everyone will just know the real reason you're in the pack." He replied, glancing Stiles up and down-and quite frankly creeping Stiles the fuck out- before he turned and left.

Stiles squinted at Jackson's back trying to figure out what the heck he was talking about. Yeah, the human knew that he was mainly in the pack for research purposes but he had also saved their asses multiple times.

"Dude, where have you been?" Scott's voice came from behind him, making him jump.

Turning he clutched at his heart.

"Scott! We've talked about this. Humans can have heart attacks. I'm a human. We do not scare the human!"

Scott rolled his eyes before his nose scrunched and his face went all confused and Stiles kept the puppy joke to himself thank you very much.

"You smell like Derek."

"Well yeah, he was over at my house last night and we-"

"Dude that's awesome! You're finally made a move." Scott interrupted grinning at his best friend.

"What? No!," Stiles shook his head, "Scott you know that's never going to happen. Remember? I might be a 10, but Derek is a 150 on a bad day? Remember?"

Used to his friends craziness Scott just rolled his eyes which Stiles knows that he didn't do this much before he started hanging out with all these werewolves.

"You reek of him, Stiles."

"Yeah, because he was at my house last night, looking up everything to find on witches."

Scott looked skeptical but let it go as the bell rang.

Through out the day the werewolves kept hitting at how he smelt like Derek.

Jackson would grin every time he passed Stiles in the hall, and now that Stiles understood what he meant the human flipped him off every time he saw that smug face.

Erica had plopped herself down on his desk in third period and asked if she had been replaced before wiggling her eyebrows at him suggestively.

Lydia-who wasn't even a wolf damn it!- looked him up and down before raising an eyebrow, which could mean anything.

Issac was the strangest of all. Normally Stiles and the blond haired puppy got along about as well as... wolfs bane and werewolves. But that day he stuck close to Stiles side when they were in the same room. At lunch the wolf had nearly knocked Scott out of the way to sit next to Stiles.

That had raised almost more eyebrows than the whole smelling like Derek thing.

By the end of the day Stiles was seriously wondering how the hell six hours of being around Derek had amounted to every werewolf in Beacon Hills thinking they were doing the do.

He was just sitting down in chemistry when Danny leaned over and spoke.

Stiles flailed at little when he heard the Hawaiian's voice because usually Danny tried to interact as little as possible with him.

"Why are you wearing your cousins shirt?" He asked, ignoring the other teens flailing.

After Stiles got over the shock he looked over at Danny.

"What're you talking about? I don't have a cousin."

"Miguel, or whatever his real name is."

Stiles really looked down at his shirt for the first time that day and saw that it was in fact the shirt Derek had forgotten at his house when Stiles had used him to get Danny to trace the text.

"Oh...That cousin. He's back in town for a little while and staying with us. This must have ended up in my basket by accident." Stiles said laughing nervously.

Danny gave him a look that clearly stated what he thought of Stiles before turning toward the front without another word.

Stiles let out a breath before slumping to his chair.

Whooo, crisis adverted.

When he got home that night Stiles looked around his room and found that everything had been moved somehow.

Just inches off, as if someone had played with everything is his room than gotten bored and set it down. The clothes in his dresser were folded a little neater. His bed perfectly made.

Stiles realized that it wasn't just the shirt, it was everything in his room that probably smelled like Derek.

Derek had scent marked his room

Stiles should probably feel violated

He didn't though, he thought as he brought the neck of his t-shirt to his face and inhaled, he felt wanted

That night Stiles feel asleep in Derek scented sheets, with a smile on his face.


	4. Chapter 4: Unexpected

Stiles knew that being the only non-terrifying human pack member would have some down falls.

In a physical manner of speaking he was the weakest link.

Now he knows how awesome he is at research and those lousy mutts would be dead thrice over if it wasn't for him.

But he was smart enough to know that people other than his pack would view him as the weakest over all.

He doesn't have claws. He can't work a bow and arrow( he's tried, that was a very interesting hospital trip, that ended with too many questions being asked from his dad.) He doesn't have whatever Lydia has going on that let's her be as terrifying as humanly possible.

He'd modified his lacrosse stick and the baseball bat he'd stolen from Scott to be able to effect werewolves, and it had gotten him out of a many sticky situation. But with out it he's physically less than his best. Especially against an alpha.

But Stiles knows all this. He knows that other creatures find him weak and that if they are trying to get to the Hale pack, he was going to be the first one they go after.

He didn't like it, but it was what it was. And so far he's been the one that lived to tell the tail.

Truthfully he would almost be concerned if he wasn't running for his life every other week.

And that's what got him about the situation he found himself in a few weeks after the whole fairy thing.

Because the creature of the week wasn't mauling him. He didn't end up kidnapped. There was no blood, no pain.

And it scared the hell out of him. Because he expected to be hurt or killed. Never had he considered the other possibilities.

If the creatures they met didn't mind torture or murder, what made Stiles believe they were above other crimes as well. It had never occurred to him.

He never expected to be used as a taunt. He never expected to be scent marked by the alpha of a rival pack that had tried to move in on the Hale territory. And he certainly didn't expect the threats that came with it.

After the other pack tried to claim Derek's territory and promptly got their asses handed to them because no matter how ridiculous Stiles finds the training sessions to be apparently they have been working (Yeah, he was shocked too,) they decided to play stalk the human.

Allison was the first, if you even count her.

Which Stiles does by the way, what's a little stabbing between friends? If Stiles stopped talking to anyone who ever tried to kill him he wouldn't have any friends. (And yes, that means you too sourwolf. So cut Allison a little slack.)

Anyway, they play stalk the human and soon find out that the Argents aren't exactly the best humans to mess with. The night had ended with one of the other pack dead and a few others injured.

After that they try Lydia, which ends just as badly as it sounds because after the whole Peter coming back from the dead thing, she armed herself. None dead that time around, but they certain didn't expect the tiny red head to know how to use a cross bow. (Allison taught her, and yes Stiles was a little jealous that the girl took to it right away when he struggled for a week before he ended up in the hospital.)

So then they decided Stiles was the best option.

Which right there tells you how competent they are if they went for him last.

Anyway they go hunting for him and find him at his most vulnerable.

They find him at the grocery store, in the cereal isle.

Yes that's his most vulnerable, okay! Anywhere else and he would have had a mountain ash laced weapon at the ready.

So there Stiles was just minding his own business-trying to decide between fruit loops or captain crunch, when suddenly he found himself being pressed against the shelf with the warmth that only a werewolf could put off, pressed against his back.

That Stiles was used to. Derek had no problem slamming the human up against something if it meant getting information out of him quicker. Until a few moments later he was sure it was Derek, coming to gripe at him about some slight to his wolfiness.

A moment later he found himself being groped.

And by groped he meant groped.

He tried to escape as the persons hands went below the waist line, and cupped around his groin.

Struggling he turned his head and saw bright red eyes and a flash of canines grinning down at him.

The air in his lungs was sucked out of his chest as his heart picked up and he renewed his struggle to escape the man's grasp.

Shock wave's of pain traveled into his gut as the alpha tightened his hands grip before he leaned in toward Stiles ear.

He could call out for help if he could just get some damn air into his lungs, but they had stopped working in his panic, the only sound escaping was a terrified croak.

Something hard pressed into his back, and the alpha rubbed in against him.

The shelves around them gave a spin as terror and panic came together, and finally- finally- his lungs found the breath they needed and he went to call out.

Clamping a hand down on the human's mouth the wolf ignored his struggles trailing his nose across Stiles' neck.

"You'll make an excellent bitch once we get rid of the Hale pack. That Agrent bitch killed my mate," the man hummed in Stiles ear, "I'll just have to take you then. I think I'll leave your alpha alive long enough to make him watch. It's always more fun that way."

The man exercised his point by squeezing Stiles' groin.

A sob escaped him.

He barely felt the brush of lips across his neck before he heard the click of a barrel.

The alpha froze against him.

"I don't think he wants you touching him." A familiar voice said, as the alpha slowly let him go.

Stumbling, Stiles scrambled back relief filling him.

A hand on his back caught him before he could fall and he finally moved his eyes from the alpha, to the crowd that had formed.

It seemed half the store had come into the isle while the alpha had been taunting him and were now glaring at the werewolf.

In the center was Chris Argent pointing a gun at him.

Stiles glanced behind him at the person who had caught him to see old Mrs. Johnson gripping her purse like she was about to start beating the alpha with it.

A hysterical laugh built in his throat but he suppressed it.

Looking around he found that he knew almost all the people in the isle, but that didn't surprise him much considering how small Beacon Hills was.

What did surprise him was that they were all standing there watching as Chris Argent held a gun on the werewolf that had assaulted him.

Not one but at least ten people had seen him being attacked and though Stiles rationally knew that this was a good thing-people to stop him and all- irrationally he felt ashamed, and couldn't figure out why.

In the distance Stiles could hear sirens and Mrs. Johnson started to herd him away, muttering reassurances in his ear.

Their attention was brought back to the alpha as Mr. Argent's back was hit ground with a loud thud, his gun knocked to the side, as the werewolf took off down the isle, knocking over anyone who tried to get in his way.

The alpha had just disappeared, with a few people chasing after him when the police rounded the corner, Sheriff Stilinski leading the way.

The sheriff waved anyone coming up to him over to the other officers, his attention only on his son.

The man marched up to his son and pulled him into a crushing hug.

"What happened? Did he hurt you? Because I swear I will kill him. Are you okay?" The sheriff asked, pulling back but holding on to his son's shoulders.

"I wouldn't say I'm okay, because I'm freaking out at the moment, but I'm not hurt. I don't know he just came up to me, I was just looking at cereal," he waves toward the boxes that had fallen on the floor when his was attacked, "And then suddenly I was being pressed against the shelf, and he was groping me."

"Did you get a good look at his face? Have you seen him before?"

Stiles glances around to see that the people that had been close to them were over giving their statements to the other officers .

Stiles looked back at his dad.

"Yeah," he whispered, "He's the alpha of the pack that Derek has been dealing with trying to take over his land lately," He told his dad, both glad that he didn't have to lie to his dad's face but also a little upset because he knew his dad wouldn't rest until the bastard got what he deserved. And that could get his dad killed.

''What? Why would he come after you? Why would he...do what he did?"

Stiles shook his head shrugging.

"Something about his mate being killed. Said he would use me as a substitute." He let out a shaky breath, his chest tight.

"I don't know dad, I'm used to getting attacked but this really freaked me out. Torture, death. That's the usual threats, this-this-it-" He couldn't explain what he was feeling.

His dad pulled him into another hug before calling over to the deputies that he was taking his son home and they could get his statement in the morning.

The drive home was less than peaceful, Stiles still tense from what had occurred and his dad getting phone calls from both his officers, updating him about some evidence found at the scene and friends calling to check on Stiles.

Stiles had shut his phone off after the first ten calls, only sending a message to the pack to let them know that he was-physically-okay.

He half expected for them to be waiting for him when he got home, but he was wrong.

His dad sort of hovered through out dinner but it didn't really bother Stiles, he was just glad to be home where he had ways to defend himself.

After dinner he stood under scalding was scrubbing his skin raw, but still not feeling clean even after the water ran cold.

He knew that the while the touching had been in part to scare the living hell out of him, it was also to make sure the pack knew the other alpha had been there and it gave him the creeps knowing that he would be smelling of the werewolf for days.

He would have something of the alpha's left on him for days. It was enough to turn his stomach.

When he couldn't scrub anymore he got out with a left over feeling of something building in his chest.

Walking into his bedroom after his shower he nearly let out a scream, it turned into a choked breath when he recognized Derek's grumpy face.

Ignoring Derek's "no touching unless I'm causing you pain" rule, the boy launched himself at the werewolf, clinging to the man's shirt when he reeled back in shock.

"I smell like him. I know I smell like him. He did it on purpose! He knew it would bother me. He knew what he was doing and now I can't get it out of my head!" The human ranted, the fear turning to shame turning into anger because how dare that asshole alpha make him feel shame over something that wasn't his fault.

Pulling back Stiles glared up at the werewolf.

"Scent mark me." He demanded.

Derek's stared down at him startled.

"Oh don't give me that!" Stiles snapped. "I know you do it. You make me smell like pack and right now I smell like him, and it's killing me, so you are going to scent mark me until there's no trace of him left!" Stiles informed him, grabbing Derek's hand and dragging it down his own arm.

He had rubbed the alpha's hand over both of his arms before Derek seemed to catch up and took over the scent marking, grumbling about Stiles doing it wrong.

Derek slowly ran his hands over Stiles' pulse points and any place with exposed skin that had been touched by the other alpha.

Though Stiles knew the werewolf could smell the main place the other alpha had touched he didn't even glance down. He just avoided below the waist.

Stiles was grateful that he just ignored it. The human knew that Derek wouldn't touch him there without permission.

About twenty minutes later Derek leaned down and sniffed at his neck.

"Better."

Stiles smirked a little at the short answer.

Suddenly he felt drained. The adrenaline from the attack wearing off as a sense of safety came over him.

He let out a yawn.

Looking up at Derek, he found the man watching him.

Stiles gave him a small grin.

"Thanks for doing that dude, it was really bothering me." A beat. "I think I'm going to lay down, today really took it out of me." He said heading toward his bed.

He expected the werewolf to head for the window, but he just sat down in Stiles' desk chair and grabbed a book of lore that was sitting next to him.

"Umm..." The human said, at a lost for words, because Derek might creep around but he's never pulled an Edward.

Derek looked up raising both his impressive eyebrows, which very clearly said "What?"

"Don't you think you should...I don't know, go do alphaie things?"

Derek's dry look told him to stop being stupid. "I'm not going to leave you unprotected after what happened today."

Which yeah sounded good...on paper. But coming from Derek, Stiles thought maybe he had fallen into the twilight zone.

As if the alpha sensed how weirded out the statement made Stiles, he looked back up and gave a smirk.

"I'm also using you as bait."

Stiles huffed a laugh before laying down. He knew Derek was lying, but it was nice to be treated like Derek would normally treat him.

Stiles was asleep before his head hit the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5: What's wrong with it?

Once Stiles had given Derek the go-ahead on scent marking him, it was like the flood gates had opened. Before Derek was a lot more subtle about it, usually only brushing up against him here and there, or in some cases slamming him against walls- with the exception of near death experiences, of course, where subtlety went out the window.

But afterward? Every time Stiles saw him, Derek would come up and blatantly rub his hands, and sometimes even his face over any of Stiles' exposed skin. It was the first and the last thing the wolf would do. Needless to say Stiles got a lot of awkward boners.

A lot.

Because Stiles saw a lot of Derek in those first few weeks after the other alpha had approached him.

Derek had insisted that someone had to be with him twenty-four seven until they found a way to deal with the other pack, in case the other alpha tried to pull anything else.

It showed how freaked Stiles was that he didn't put up a fight about not being helpless when Derek first suggested it.

So for a few weeks Stiles was picked up for school and dropped off at home into Derek's capable hands each day by one of the pack.

Because of course Derek had insisted on being the one to stay at Stiles house day and night with him. One time Scott had volunteered to have a sleep over with him so Derek could have a break, Stiles wasn't there when he brought it up to the older wolf, but given Scott's sudden adamants about not being able to stay, the suggestion hadn't gone over well.

So Stiles would come home to Derek, who was always waiting to scent mark him.

"Any luck figuring out how to get rid of the other pack?" Stiles asked during one such instance.

Because apparently they were they good guys and they couldn't just kill people. Scott's words, not his.

"Deaton's trying to find something to weaken the alpha," Derek mumbled into his skin, his stubble tickling the human's neck.

"Let's hope he finds something soon I think the puppies are getting tired of following me around."

"They'll deal with it."

Stiles pursed his lips before asking what was really on his mind.

"Aren't you tired of hanging out around me?"

There was a long beat of silence before Derek pulled back from his neck.

"No."

"No?"

"No."

Okay then.

Stiles looked down, a smile tugging at his lips. He missed the sudden redness of Derek's ears.

Honestly Stiles was enjoying Derek's company a little too much. His slightly massive crush whispering in the back of his mind that the wolf's actions were more than platonic.

Stiles wasn't sure how Derek hadn't smelt his attraction to him yet, but he would take his small miracles where he could get them.

He was kind of hoping that they would get rid of the other alpha soon, it was getting harder to hide his feelings and he didn't want to make a fool of himself.

A couple weeks later he got his wish when he was left at the loft while most of the pack went with Derek to help him with whatever it was going to take to make the other pack leave.

Stiles had put up a fight about wanting to go, more for appearances than any actual interest in going,

That turned more serious when he realized who would be staying with him to keep him safe.

The creepy zombie wolf. Peter. The worst babysitter in the world.

While no one was particularly happy with that, none of them had appreciated his quip that while they were going to fend off the lions they were throwing him to the wolves.

Stiles took solace that he wasn't going to be alone though, since Lydia had decided to stay too. Though she was busy painting her nails while being as far away from Peter as possible.

However the wolf had no interest in her that day as his focus was solely on Stiles.

Which creeped him the fuck out because Peter was blatantly staring at him with an unnatural focus.

Every time the teen would look up from his book, he would meet the other man's eyes and Peter would. Not. Look. Away. with a giant smirk on his face.

After half an hour of not being able to concentrate on his book with the feeling of eyes on him, Stiles looked up and snapped,

"What?! Why are you staring at me?!"

Impossibly, Peter's grin widened.

"Oh nothing, I just can't help noticing how much you reek of my nephew."

"Of course I smell like him, I'm pack. He's been scent marking me to make me smell like it. Which is kind of important, what with the pedophilic alpha that's after me."

A kind of psychotic gleam appeared in Peter's eye's and Stiles heard a smacking noise from his left.

Turning he saw Lydia running a hand over her face, which had her judgey expression on it.

Used to that face Stiles turned back to Peter, who was grin was unnerving him.

"Oh yes, how silly of me."

Stiles waited for the wolf to say more, but all he did was grin at the human some more before getting up and heading into what served as Derek's kitchen.

Frowning, because that didn't seem like the end of it, the human went back to his book.

It seemed like that wasn't the end of whatever was going on with the creeper wolf because a few minutes later he was walking passed where the teen was sitting when he suddenly tripped. Over nothing.

The ice cold glass of soda he was carrying tipped in his hand and guess where it landed?

Yup, right in Stiles' lap. Some also landed on the book Deaton had 'lent' him.

"What the hell?!" The teen exclaimed jumping up pulling his now soak t-shirt away from his body.

"Oops so sorry," Peter drawled, not sounding sorry at all. "I tripped."

"Or really? I couldn't tell!"

"Oh well, you're soaked. Let me grab you another shirt and a towel. You can't very well wear that anymore." The wolf said heading up the stairs.

"Fine," He snapped. "But you're explaining to Deaton why his two century old book now has pepsi stains."

"Of course, of course," was replied when older man came back down with a shirt and a towel in tow.

Stiles grabbed the towel, pulling his wet shirt over his head. Patting his chest dry before he shrugged into the clean one that fit better than he thought it would.

"What no thank you?"

Stiles pulled his head though the neck of the shirt and glared at Peter.

"Why should I thank you? You're the reason I had to change in the first place."

"I did apologize, accidents do happen, you know."

Accident his ass. Werewolves had a supernatural grace about them that let them avoid most stumbles. Beside Scott. But he's Scott, so he doesn't count.

"Mhmm I don't know what you're playing at but stop."

A sigh came from across the room.

Lydia was staring at him her face more judgey than it was before.

"What?"

"Nothing," she sighed shaking her head in frustration.

Frowning he turned back to where Peter had been, to find the other wolf now over by the windows spreading out the pages of the book Stiles had been reading so that they wouldn't stick together.

Grumbling the human flopped onto the couch pulling out his phone.

And that was how they rest of the pack found them an hour later.

Stiles had beat his high score on his game a little while earlier and was now trying to one up his past self. Lydia had pulled out a science magazine from her purse and was reading that while Peter was flipping through and reading the dry pages of the book.

"All taken care of?" The wolf asked over his shoulder as the pack filed in.

"Yeah," Scott replied looking a little disturbed as he flopped down onto the couch beside Stiles.

"What'd you guys do?"Stiles asked. "Derek was a little vague before he left."

Wide eyed Scott turned his head to stare at the human.

"Dude, you don't even want to know."

Stiles furrowed his eyebrows and was about to say yeah he did, that was something important to know when he let out a manly squawk as a hand suddenly yanked him up out of his seat.

"You smell wrong," Was grumbled in his ear.

Jerking out of Derek's grip he turned to face the wolf.

"Rude!" The human snipped.

Derek's eyebrows frowned down at him.

"What are you wearing." he 'asked.'

"A shirt." the human replied, "Peter spilled soda all over me. And Deaton's book." Stiles called in the direction of said wolf.

"Why are you wearing Peter's shirt."

What?

"Ah that would be my fault nephew, I couldn't let poor Stiles wear that sticky shirt anymore and he and I are closer in size than you two are so I didn't see the harm. After all it will only make him smell more like pack, right?"

Derek growled under his breath before grabbing Stiles wrist and all up dragging him up the steps and into the bathroom.

He grabbed a bottle of shower gel and pushed it into Stiles' hands.

"Shower. You stink. I'll get you another shirt while you do that."

"What's wrong with this one? I mean I don't like the idea of smelling like Peter but is there actually something wrong with it?"

The wolf didn't answer, and left the room shutting the door behind him.

"You can't just leave when someone's asking you something." Stiles fussed at the door.

"Shower, Stiles." came the wolf's voice.

Grumbling the human did as he was told.

When he got out of the shower, a shirt two sizes too big was waiting for him on the counter. And Peter had been thrown out of the loft.


	6. Stiles gets hit by a clue by four

"-I don't understand why would he care if I smelled like Peter? I mean, I don't want to smell like Peter, but he is in the pack, and if Derek's been trying to make me smell like pack it wouldn't matter if I had Peter's scent on me, right?" Stiles asked shoving another curly fry in his mouth looking over at his companion.

Scott looked back at him in exasperation. Stiles had invited him over to his house to watch some movies, but twenty minutes into the Avengers Stiles had turned to him and started ranting about Derek. So here Scott was trapped in Stiles' living room listening to him go on about what happened at the loft. Again.

Sighing he answered, "I don't know man, why don't you go ask Derek why he doesn't want you smelling like Peter if you want to know so badly?"

"I've already tried!" Stiles burst out. "It's like talking to a brick wall. A glaring, broody brick wall."

Scott rolled his eyes. He wouldn't call the yelling Stiles did through the bathroom door that night as actually questioning the alpha.

"I don't know what to tell you then."

"Oh I don't know Scott why don't you tell me why you think he's doing it, instead of sitting there and judging me?"

"I've been telling you what I think about it for a week-"

"Yeah I know 'you shoud go tk to him,'" The other boy mocked. "What kind of advice is that? I'll tell you, bad! Why would Derek talk you me, I'm the last person he want's to talk to."

Scott rolled his eyes again.

"And that! What's that about? You've been rolling your eyes and giving me knowing looks for months like there's something I should have figured out by now, but news flash Scott, whatever it is you think I should know, I don't. So why don't you just tell what's going on?" He was getting tired of feeling like the only one not in on the joke.

An disbelieving sigh came from behind them and they turn to see that the Sheriff had walked in during Stiles' rant and was looking for all the world to be questioning if Stiles was actually his child.

"What?" Stiles asked after his dad continued to stare at him like that for a few minutes.

The Sheriff sighed again, wiping his hand down his face.

"Stiles, there's no way you can be the clueless, you were raised by me for Christ sake."

"Wha-What's that supposed to mean?" Stiles sputtered.

His dad looked at the ceiling like he was gathering strength before answering.

"Stiles, you're raised by a cop, surely you can put two and two together. I've seen you do it all the time with the crap that goes on in this town," he'd even been impressed with his son after getting over the whole werewolves are real talk, "So surely you can't be that oblivious."

Stiles just gazed back at him blankly, so John turned to Scott for help.

"Scott, you only scent mark Allison right?"

The wolf flicked his eyes toward Stiles, obviously wanting to let Stiles figure it out on his own, but he answered anyway looking back at the Sheriff.

"Yes sir."

"And Boyd and Erica? Who do they scent mark?"

"Each other."

"And do you guys scent mark anyone else?"

"Not unless we're trying to rile the persons significant other up." Scott admitted, glancing at Stiles.

John looked Stiles directly in the eyes when he asked his next question.

"So normally werewolves only scent mark their significant others?"

"Yes sir."

Stiles eyes were wide staring back at his dad as he finally put two and two together.

Surely they were wrong though.

"So Stiles, If wolves only scent mark their significant others, why do you think Derek is scent marking you?"

Stiles just shook his head at his dad, at a loss for words for once in his life.

"But I'm not Derek's boyfriend! I'm not even his friend, he hates me!" Stiles finally burst out.

His dad looked down at him with pity.

"Stiles if you can't see that Derek's ass over ears for you then I don't know what to tell you, other than you need to brush up on your observation skills."

Stiles shook his head looking to Scott for help only to see Scott had his guilty face on.

"Are you sure you don't want to go talk to Derek?"

Stiles nearly tripped on his way to get his keys as an answer.

Rushing out the door he heard his dad call out to be back by ten and he threw a hasty wave over his shoulder, before speeding his way to Derek loft.

When he finally got up the hundred stairs of the building he threw the door open yelling Derek's name.

The alpha was no where to be seen but the three beta's were lounging only the couch. They perked up when they saw the state Stiles was in.

"Figure something out Stiles?" Erica asked grinning at him, her teeth on show.

"If all of you would please get out, I need to talk to Derek about somethings." he said with a sharp smile.

"Okay, okay." She replied as the betas took their time making their way to the door.

When they passed Stiles they brushed against him.

Hearing a growl from the kitchen, Stiles looked up to see Derek standing there glaring at the retreating backs of his pack.

Their laughter could be heard after the door slid shut.

Derek started making his way toward him, but stopped when Stiles held up his hand.

"When were you going to tell me that you had feelings for me?"

Derek gave him a blank stare and for a second his heart dropped thinking that his dad and Scott had been wrong.

"What are you talking about?" The wolf asked, a confusion behind the normal glare.

"The scent marking! Scott and my dad said wolves only scent mark their significant other, unless they're trying to rile up another wolf, which I guess is what Peter was trying to do but I had no clue you had feelings for me because you didn't tell me, and with the way you're staring at me right now I'm beginning to think I came all the way over here to make a fool of myself and my dad was wrong about you returning my feelings, so- I'm just going to stop now, please say something."

Derek's eyebrows were raised and he was looking at Stiles like he was crazy.

Stiles could hear his own heart beating as he waited for Derek to respond.

"...I thought you knew," the wolf said slowly.

"What!?" He burst out, "How could I possibly know that Derek, you never told me!"

"Why did you think I was doing it Stiles? I've been very clear about my intentions-"

"No you haven't!"

"Why would I scent mark you if I wasn't interested in you?! I wouldn't play with someone's emotions like that."

"How was I supposed to know that scent marking equals romantic interest? No one told me that, was I supposed to just figure it out on my own?"

"I thought I was making it obvious Stiles."

Stiles let out a frustrated breath, this conversation was going nowhere fast.

"You may have been making it obvious for a werewolf, but I'm human and I don't know everything there is about werewolves, so I have to ask you guys. I asked Scott and he just told me it was probably because I'm a human in the pack, so I didn't think much of it." He explained patiently.

"But I don't scent mark the Lydia and Allison." Derek pointed out, making his way over to the human.

"Yeah I know, it was just the only explanation that made a little sense to me, since I thought there was no way you could like me."

"Why didn't you just ask me?"

The older man now stood so close that all Stiles would have to do is lean forward to press his head into Derek's shoulder. He was a left a little breathless at the closeness.

"I...I didn't want you to stop." He said looking up and meeting the wolf's eyes.

Derek gaze down at him, keeping eye contact as slowly he reach up and ran his hand lightly over Stiles' throat.

"Hey Stiles?" He whispered leaning closer.

"Yeah?"

"I have feelings for you." He said clearly before closing the distance and pulling Stiles into heated kiss.

Stiles gasped and Derek took the opportunity to slip his tongue into the younger man's mouth, earning him a breathless moan.

Stiles didn't know how long they had been kissing before Derek pulled back and pressed their foreheads together.

"That clear enough for you?" The wolf grinned.

Stiles chuckled, "Crystal."


End file.
